Z Wave

A lot of people are not yet familiar with the term Z Wave. But taking the new developments in consideration it won’t take long before we all have some Z Wave controlled devices in our house. At the moment there are more than 1000 products that make use of the Z Wave technology so you have a big change that at last one of them is ending up in your house.

What is Z Wave?

Z Wave is a way of connecting different devices together, it is an international certification by the Z Wave alliance to guaranty compatibility between all products that are Z Wave certified. Z Wave uses a low powered 1 GHz RF signal in the 900 MHz band to communicate between the different devices that can be used for home automation, light commercial and measuring energy use.

Interoperability Logos

What are Z Wave products?

At the moment there are more than 1000 products that make use of the Z Wave certification. Witch means that they all can be connected to each other regardless of the product brand or application. This will offer you more options to set-up the system for your specific situation. At this moment there is no other monitoring and controlling technology that comes even close offering you this.

Z Wave offers products like, sensors, door locks, Thermostats, lighting, gateways, security panels, motorized shades and many more. All this can be easily fitted to your own system and can be controlled by tablet, PC and remotely by your smart phone. Z Wave devices can also communicate with each other within the Z Wave network that means that they also can relay signals to other devices. You can install up to 232 Z Wave devices to one Z Wave hub.

What can Z Wave do?

The most common things you can do with the Z Wave products are Remote Home Security or Monitoring, Energy savings and comfort or convenience applications.

Consumers can create scenarios with a number of devices connected together, which can be controlled on your tablet or smart phone. The use of one app will give you the possibility to control all these devises at once.

For example when you want to create a security system for your home you start with creating what is called a “scene”. You can give this scene the name “Secure home”. The purpose for this scene would be to secure and shut down your house when you go away. When you would swipe the scene the whole house would be shut down and secured when you leave the house. This means that the scene will be activated and automatically will do things like, lock all doors and windows, turn of all the lights and activate the alarm. When the system detects something while you away it will notify you remotely and can start a second scene. This second scene can sound a alarm signal, turn on the lights in your house and call the local police station. It can also trigger one or a series of video cameras and start recording. You can even send these live video recordings to your smart phone and see what is happening in your house or business.
It is possible to combine different scenes with each other within the Z Wave system you have set-up. Making it possible to monitor and control your energy consumption with your smart phone. Turning off your lights in the house, shutting down your AC and computers or adjusting the thermostat.

Because all Z Wave devices can communicate with each other you can create your system by adding one device at a time. Creating more functionality by adding more and more devices to your network.

Z Wave on the go.

Manage your home via your smart phone. Allowing consumers to manage their households giving them great functionality to turn on the heat while you’re away. Receiving a alert when something goes wrong, controlling who goes in and out your house, shutting down the house when you go away.

Controlling it all

A tablet gives you an easy way to control your Z Wave powered devices. Creating a scene you be able to manage a number of devices at the same time. You can create a “Wake Up” scene to warm up the house, turn the lights on and makes coffee. Create a scene for a movie night at home adjusting the lights for the right atmosphere. Permitting you have a good night sleep knowing the house is secure.

Connect for anywhere you like

You can connect to your Z Wave system and control the devices from anywhere you like. Just a connection to the Internet will allow you to take control and keep connected to your loves ones. You can install the system in a way that it will notify you when your kids come home. You can turn the heat off in case you have to work late. You can give the illusion somebody is home by remotely turn off and on the lights in your home.

Install yourself or hire someone

Z Wave is designed to be easy to install and most devices are plug and play. However some products need some more attention to be installed. For example when you want to install a door lock, you have to take out the old lock and build in the new one. The same for some of the light products were you have to require some electrical know-how. Most products that need to be build-in have an extensive user manual to guide you true the process. You will always have the option to, do it yourself, hire a independent installer who can do it for you. Or contact your local retailer asking him if he is offering a home installation service.

Start with a controller.

Most Z Wave user chooses to install their system themselves. Besides giving you a good understanding how your system works. It also gives you a better idea what other devices you may want to connect to your Z Wave system. Buying a good controller is the best way to start building your Z Wave system. The Fibaro Home Center 2 or the Fibaro Home Center Lite are one of the easiest and best system controllers money can buy.